In 1951 Mississippi, Thebes State Penal Farm is a place of violence, racial terror, and horrific rumors. When an old friend disappears inside Thebes, Arkansas State Police Sgt. Earl Swagger infiltrates the prison and discovers a savage world where death is the only salvation. He barely escapes with his life, but he's not about to stay away for long.

Twenty years after he earned a reputation for killing eighty-seven men during the Vietnam War, Bob Lee Swagger finds that his skills are in demand when an organization with ties to the CIA hires him for a particularly dangerous mission.